State Your Case: Pat Fischer

Does the Pro Football Hall of Fame have something against the University of Nebraska?

This is one of college football’s most storied programs. Nebraska ranks fifth all-time in victories and has won five national titles. The College Football Hall of Fame has recognized those achievements, enshrining 16 Nebraska players and six coaches.

But the Pro Football Hall of Fame has been slow to embrace the Cornhuskers. Only three are enshrined in Canton: Coach Guy Chamberlain and offensive tackles Bob Brown and Link Lyman.

Chamberlain last coached in the NFL in 1928, Lyman last played in 1934 and Brown had to wait 26 years for enshrinement and only then as a senior candidate. Brown was named to the NFL’s all-decade team for the 1960s — so Nebraska has had only one enshrinee from the last eight decades.

There have been other worthy candidates, and Mick Tingelhoff could be the school’s second modern-era player enshrined in 2015. He started more games than any player in NFL history at center (240) and also played in six Pro Bowls and four Super Bowls.

Despite his achievements, Tingelhoff has never been discussed as a finalist. Like Brown, his candidacy was resurrected by the senior committee. He has waited 32 years for his first visit to the finals in 2015.

Then there’s Will Shields, who won an Outland Trophy at Nebraska and was named to the NFL all-decade team for the 2000s. He started a franchise-record 223 consecutive games for the Kansas City Chiefs and was selected to 12 Pro Bowls in his 14 seasons. Only five players in NFL history have gone to more Pro Bowls.

Yet Shields has been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame each of the last three years and has been passed over each time. Roger Craig also had a spin in the room as the finalist in 2010, but the committee didn’t warm up to him, either.

At least Brown, Craig and Shields have been discussed as finalists, and Tingelhoff will soon join them with that honor. Pat Fischer has not been as fortunate.

Apparently, longevity runs at the school. Tingelhoff played 240 games, Shields 224 and Fischer 213. That places Fischer seventh all-time among cornerbacks at arguably the NFL’s toughest position. And Fischer did it the hard way — with no size.

At 5-9, 170 pounds, Fisher was nicknamed “Mouse” but played like a lion. He lasted 17 seasons lining up every down against someone bigger than him. But Fischer never lined up against anyone tougher than him.

“I’ve never been hit so hard as when Pat Fischer tackled me,” said Hall-of-Fame halfback Frank Gifford.

“Pat Fischer intimidated me,” added Hall-of-Fame wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff. “He’s probably the one guy I played against that when you came off the line, you’d better know where he was at.”

Fischer played in an era when he was asked to cover players with Olympic speed (Bob Hayes) and basketball size (6-8 Harold Carmichael). But early on he found a way to succeed — as one of the first proponents of the bump-and-run.

There’s some debate where the coverage technique originated in the 1960s — with Fischer or in the AFL with Willie Brown and the Oakland Raiders. But Fischer was the first to use it as a primary coverage tool in the NFL.

Fischer broke in with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1961 as a 17th-round draft pick and played alongside Hall of Famer Larry Wilson, a pioneer of the safety blitz.

When Wilson blitzed, that left a hole in the secondary that quarterbacks could exploit with quick passes before the pass rush arrived. Fischer needed to devise a plan to combat those quick passes — and he did so by jamming the receivers at the line, taking them out of their route and thus eliminating those quick throws. He bumped them and then ran with them.

“Pat was tough as nails,” added Hall-of-Fame safety Ken Houston, who played with Fischer in Washington. “He was a special breed.”

But there was more to the Fischer package than toughness. There was ability. He intercepted 56 passes, including 10 in 1964. Even though he has not played since 1977, Fischer still ranks eighth among pure corners interceptions. His 16 fumble recoveries also are a record for NFL cornerbacks.

Does Pat Fischer belong in the Hall of Fame? That’s open to debate. But he certainly should have been discussed as a finalist by now — and that’s not open to debate. Pat Fischer’s case needs to be heard.

Rick Gosselin

Rick Gosselin has covered the NFL for 44 years, including stints reporting on the Lions, Giants, Chiefs and Cowboys. He has been a Pro Football Hall of Fame voter since the 1980s and won the Dick McCann Award in 2004 for “long and distinguished reporting on professional football.”

McGinnis on Spare Bears’ ’87 game in Philly: ‘It was surreal”

Judgements Three: In defeat, score one for Steelers’ Tomlin

10 Comments

Pat Fischer overall stats ranks 6th amoung the 24 Def. backs already in the hall of fame. I have been working with the senior committee for 6 years trying to get them to put Pat in he has to be put in 703-726-7488

Pat and I are from Omaha and went to the same high school, Omaha Westside. Pat was two years behind me. I was the first football all-stater at Westside, but Pat broke all my records, made all state and won the state championship. I have never seen a better football player. Ever, anywhere. Not only that, he broad jumped 23 feet. While at NU he single handedly beat Texas in Austin in 1961, running two punts back for TDs. While at a re-union 15 years ago we all asked him what was his toughest cover. Max McGee, maybe Ditka? I said Lance Alworth or Gene Washington. “Naww”, he said,”Bob Hayes”. George Allen had to make a special defense for him. And pat got the job.

A group of old HS buddies has tried for 20 years to get him in the HOF, to no avail. The reason is, we found, is that a player needs active sports journalists who can remember accomplishments
and who can actively tout him. No one’s around anymore; just his friends who know how great he was. His stats are incredible: 56 picks, 6 for TDs, invented the bump and run with Larry Wilson Unfortunately, the NFL didn’t keep track of tackles til after Pat retired in 1981. At 5’9 and 165 he was a tiger. He’s suffered a bad back for most of his life. And now, Pat is in assisted living with advanced dementia in the DC area.

Will Shields is definitely in soon. Didn’t see Tinglehoff, but indivdual honors and team success say he’ll finally get in. Craig might because because of a variety of accomplishments (1000/1000, RB receiving record, OFF Player of the Year, 3 Super Bowl’s).

Didn’t see Fischer play. You make a strong case, but 3 Pro Bowls and 2 All Pros suggests that he was “great” only briefly and “really good” the rest of the time. And there are a lot of careers like that. Unless he played for some championship teams (he didn’t), I doubt Veteran’s Committee will see that as enough to get in.

Not a big fan of Pat Fischer for the HoF. His postseason honors are skimpy at 2/3/none and he doesn’t score that highly at Ken Crippen’s film study site. He has a lot of career interceptions because he played forever. Would much sooner see Lemar Parrish (3/8/none, excellent KR), Abe Woodson (5/5/none, excellent KR), Dave Grayson (6/6/allAFL, solid KR), or Bobby Boyd (4/2/60s) get elected first among cornerback Seniors.

Hall of Fame Coach George Allen said “Pat Fischer should be an All Pro, should be in the HOF someday”. Fischer was thought of very highly by Redskins Coach Vince Lombardi, I know because Pat told me so in 2005. You don’t make a Lombardi team if you are just ‘really good’ for the majority of your 17 year career. Two HOF coaches that think highly of Fischer, one of which by the way has the Super Bowl trophy named after him, make him a highly desired candidate for the HOF. Watch some film of him. I watched him play for most of his career in Washington. His size did not diminish his ability to be one of the greatest hard hitters. See what HOF WR and Super Bowl MVP Fred Biletnikoff said about him, that “he intimidated me. He was one player that when you came to the line of scrimmage, you had to know where he was at.” Fischer ‘dipped’ under pulling guards to tackle RBs like Larry Csonka and John Riggins on his own. Fischer was known first as a vicious hitter. Yet his 56 interceptions ties HOFer Lem Barney for 18th place all time and is only one short of HOF Great Mel Blount. Half the defensive players ahead of him are HOFers. Fischer has 2 more interceptions than HOFer Darrell Green, and Green played for 20 years. Does that make Green look like only a ‘really good’ player for most of his career?
For what its worth, Fischer has the stats and Old School support to be in the HOF. I believe he will be inducted into the HOF someday…
Roy Shields #37

This Weeks Poll Question

About Us

Whenever a notable player reaches or nears retirement, the first questions asked is, “Is he a first-ballot Hall of Famer?”
Well, we have the answer. That’s because our weekly radio program is hosted by three long-time NFL writers: Clark Judge, Ron Borges and Rick Gosselin are three of the 48 selectors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Here’s the hook: where other programs call their analysts “insiders,” our guys ARE insiders. Because they’re on the “inside,” these guys have access to some of the biggest names in pro football. Our two-hour show puts a Hall-of-Fame perspective on players, coaches, plays, issues and stadiums from the past, present and future.